Bermuda Island

2. The Beach

The trees buzzed with life, as Oscar moved quietly and quickly through the jungle. He barely noticed the pain around his body, the bloodied knees and elbows, as he stared in awe at the thousands of colourful birds that shrieked and whistled and fluttered from tree to tree. He didn't recognise any of the species, but he admired them all the same. Oz had started heading east of the jungle. He had started to notice that the trees appeared taller in that direction, and so had the idea of getting to higher ground. He moved through the trees and vines without stopping, he was determined to finish his self-set goal of finding human life. However, he did stop once, to take a hearty mouthful of a small freshwater trickle, probably the remains of a recent rain.

By the time that he reached the area where the trees grew taller, Oz was surprised to hear a sort of loud crashing noise, like heavy wind, or waves on rocks. The terrain was rougher here, but he gave in to his curiosity. His shirt stuck to him through sweat, while his pack bounced hard on his aching back. He was clambering heavily across the stone and creepers, when suddenly a green blur flashed in front of his face. It was a sort of lizard, with a spine across it's back. The boy poked a finger at it, and the reptile leapt away again. The undergrowth was getting increasingly thicker, and now thorns and twigs scratched at Oz's bare legs and arms; this didn't help the already existing pain. He disentangled his foot, and retied his laces.

When Oz reached the top of the hill, with scratched legs and aching feet, he was astonished at what he saw. It was a beach. At first sight, it appeared a normal sandy beach, some rocks and palm trees dotted here and there. The palm trees stood or leaned naturally in clusters nearest the treeline, but a few of them were alone or in pairs closer to the tide. Most of these were fallen or leaned so much that their roots showed out of the sand. Oz slid down the slight slope to the beach, and he wandered onto the sand, relieving in the softness underfoot. But he also noticed something else. There were a lot of boat wrecks. The majority of these were rotten wooden rowing boats, but others were slightly larger and more modern rusted metal lifeboats. These were dotted along the beach, going on for miles. Oz also noticed that there were larger ship wrecks out to sea, most of them cargo ships, but others cruise ships and passenger ships. One of them had miraculously found it's way onto the beach, and leaned sideways in the sand, a mile or so up the beach. The boy waddled over to a fallen palm, and collapsed there in exhaustion. He lugged off his pack, undoing the seatbelt, and removed his shoes. He sighed with the relief of rest, and he relished in the shade that the palm leaves provided, despite the trunk being in the ground. Glancing at the sky, and the position of the sun, Oz guessed that it must be around mid-afternoon. He knew that the sun was in the middle of the sky at noon, and it was halfway towards the horizon, so it was more an educated guess. Oz looked at the jungle, and he couldn't see it all, but there was some green mountains visible, and there was all kinds of rocks and cliffs near the end of the beach. There was also some small islands and chunks of land with cliffs and rocks that were slightly separated off from the rest of the beach. The boy had time to contemplate, and he pondered over the fact of where he could be. Due to the amount of boats, he couldn't be the only soul on this... island? Continent? Wherever he was, he wouldn't be the only person. It was after this final thought, that the exhausted child gave in to sleep.

When Oz awoke, it was late afternoon, and the sun was getting low in the sky. The temperature was getting cooler, and the dreary-eyed child stood. He wasn't used to sleeping outside, and he began to panic slightly. He wasn't the best at making fire. He knew how, and he knew the materials needed, but he hadn't the time to find them. How would he keep warm in the cold nights? The shadows were getting longer, by the time he had an idea. He moved his things out of the way of the fallen palm, and began to scoop big handfuls of sand out from underneath it. He had made a shallow pit, just large enough for him to lie in comfortably, and he then went up to the top end of the fallen palm, and tore out some of the giant leaves. Oz had leaned all of these against the palm trunk, so that he had a rough A-frame made. He also grabbed some more palm leaves, and laid them flat in the pit, so he had a soft bed for himself. Happy with his accomplishment, Oz walked over to the shoreline, and splashed his sandy feet in the cool water. Once again, the small little devil of fear crept into his mind again. What if he wasn't the largest thing on the beach. Or in the jungle for that matter. The creative phantoms of his mind toyed with him for a while, and invented all kinds of creatures that could be lurking in the shadows, waiting for the sun to set, and a teenage boy to be walking around, vulnerable and blind in the dark. As the sun began sinking into the horizon, Oz shook the water from his feet, and sprinted up the beach to his palm den. He crawled under the trunk wearily, dragging his pack in with him, and blocking the small entrance with more palm leaves. He sat hunched, and pulled out the shirts from the bag, using them as a kind of blanket over himself. It wasn't long after that when the boy fell asleep once again.